


a little bit of magic

by orphan_account



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Gen, Klance Week 2016, M/M, Trans Female Character, Trans Female Pidge | Katie Holt, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-04
Updated: 2016-08-05
Packaged: 2018-07-29 05:46:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7672426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Finding out he was a wizard was the best thing to happen to Lance McClain.</p><p>(For Klance Week 2016.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Red/Blue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pidge is referred to with he/they pronouns in this chapter of the fic because she is not yet out as a trans girl to Lance.

It was the very first class of the school year, and for once in his life, Lance was excited for class. He was pumped! He was hyped! He was psyched! Because this year, unlike _every other year of his life_ , he was going to be learning _magic._

That’s right, magic.

It had only been two months ago when a strange – but very beautiful – woman with white hair and pointed ears showed up on his doorstop with the announcement that Lance had gotten into the school she worked at. Only thing was, no one in the McClain family had ever applied to or even heard of a place called _Hogwarts_. Why would they have? One, the name was stupid, and two, they had only just moved to England. The eleven-year-old wasn’t exactly keen to go to some stuffy boarding school like they seemed to be a fan of around here.

Well. And then the lady – who introduced herself as Allura Altea, hehe, A.A. – grew until she touched the ceiling, turned neon pink, and offered the letter to Lance. He took it, awestruck, and eagerly read something that wasn’t comic books, for once.

This lady, this very awesome mccool Allura Altea, worked at a school with MAGIC and HE was magic and HE WOULD GET TO GO LEARN MAGIC.

Lance wanted to cry.

“Can I learn to do that?” he had asked, awestruck. “Can I get big and change colors and stuff?”

She laughed. “No, I’m sorry.” He had been very upset, and she ruffled his hair. “You have to be born with the skills to do that. But you can learn how to fly.”

That quickly assuaged any disappointment the small child had felt. He was going to be able to fly on a broomstick! And they had sports! They had a sport where you flew on a broomstick!! Miss Allura had been able to tell him all about it – she was a former player, which just cemented in Lance’s mind how _utterly amazing_ she was – before she had to go, but she promised she would come back later to take him shopping.

She had. One of the biggest items on that list had been a wand, and Lance squeezed his cypress wand as he entered his first classroom.

It was Potions with the Slytherins, every single Monday morning. Apparently, his house – GO GRYFFINDORS! – were rivals with the Slytherins. Cool. Lance was always okay with more competition, and he was determined to get the best grades here ever. School had always been hard for him, but with magic? Come on, he totally could do this. No sweat.

He was one of the first in the classroom, of course. He was excited, he was PUMPED, and he had totally set his alarm to be a bit early to get his make-up all set, but then he could barely eat and aghhhhhhhhh basically, he was the first Gryffindor in. The Slytherins were already there, all paired off at their respective tables on the far side of the room, and Lance stood flat-footed, unsure of what to do.

Should he grab his own table and hope that another Gryffindor would join him, after? They seemed cool, but he didn’t know them yet. Should he wait until the other Gryffindors got there and then pick a seat? Or would he look awkward hovering in the-

…There was a Slytherin sitting alone.

Lance stared, surprised by this. All the other Slytherins were matched up, but this one was alone. That seemed wrong. While the others were chatting quietly among themselves, this small one sat alone readying their potions ingredients. And boy, were they SMALL. Lance was sincerely surprised they were old enough to attend school here? Like, didn’t you have to be at LEAST 11?

Either way, it seemed he found his partner. Completely ignoring the typical inter-house boundaries and rules, the Gryffindor made his way over to the small Slytherin, plopping next to them. “Hi!” he greeted enthusiastically with a grin. “I’m Lance, Lance McClain. You’re pretty small for a Slytherin!”

The small kid narrowed their eyes at him. “I’m only eight. I got to join early,” they said matter of factly, and woah, they SOUNDED young, too. “You can call me Pidge.”

Lance accepted that with a nod. “Cool. How’d you get in?”

They grinned. “My brother’s dating the headmistress.”

His jaw dropped. “No way! Deets, man, I need deets!”

\--------

At dinner, Lance got to really figure out where people sat for dinner, and he was delighted to re-friend his friend from the train. Hunk was very, very nice, and also pretty cool, AND a Hufflepuff. The Hufflepuff table was right next to the Gryffindor one. Needless to say…

“Okay, so we need to sit by the inside front, got it?” Lance asked, twisted around in his seat and facing his friend.

Hunk nodded. “Yeah, yeah. Hey, can I see your schedule?” Obligingly, Lance dug the wrinkled mess out from his bag and passed it over, where the other boy smoothed it out and squinted at it, before lighting up. “Hey, we have Herbology together on Tuesdays and Wednesdays!”

Lance beamed, leaning back even further to peek at what his friend was holding. “Really? Cool! Partners?”

“Dude, yes.” He passed the paper back, and then made a face. “Have you had any classes with the Slytherins yet?”

The Gryffindor crumpled his paper back up, shoving it into his bag. “Yeah, Potions. Why?”

Hunk hesitated. “The upper years have been… talking about how we’ve got Flying with the Slytherins tomorrow. And that they’re really mean. _Are_ they really mean?”

Lance considered, reflecting back on his lesson that morning with the Slytherins and Professor Coran. “They’re know-it-alls,” he determined after a minute, thinking. “But I dunno if they were really mean. There’s a nice Slytherin I met you should talk to. Their name is Pidge, they’re only EIGHT, Hunk, eight!”

“Wow.” Hunk was suitably impressed. “I didn’t know you could be eight here!”

He shook his head. “Their brother’s dating headmistress Allura, so I guess they get to.” He siiiiiighed. “I can’t believe she’s taken, she’s so pretty…”

“If she’s so pretty, doesn’t it make _more_ sense that she’s dating someone?” Lance hushed his grinned friend, refusing to listen to his logic. “Okay, okay, I’ll check out this Pidge. What do they look like?”

Lance leaned forward, back properly in his seat as he thought. “Small, _really_ small, white, with brown hair. Couldn’t tell if they were a boy or a girl.”

Hunk stared at the Gryffindor incredulously. “You didn’t ask?”

He reddened. “It- It wasn’t important!”

“Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.” Hunk rolled his eyes. “I’ll ask tomorrow at flying, since _you_ couldn’t.” Lance threw a dinner roll at him.

\---

Despite their, ahem, ensuing “disagreement” the night before, Hunk and Lance worked great together in herbology. Hunk kept Lance on task, directing him to the stuff that involved his HANDS more than his HEAD, while Hunk filled out their parchment with the answers. Honestly, Lance didn’t mind – he found it difficult to focus, or not fidget, or keep things straight at the best of times, so getting his hands covered in dirt while Hunk read the questions out loud and he answered was very easy.

How long were the roots? Yank up the plant, grab the ruler, and uh, what measuring system are we doing?

What color is the underside of the leaves? Time to peek!

Is the dirt even, or is it clotted into clumps? Now he could really dig and check it out.

It was a great partnership, and Lance was pleased to see the surprise on the Herbology Professor’s face when they presented him with their sheet. They were a tall, Black person who was androgynous as hell and wore all yellow. Appropriately, everyone called them Professor Yellow, and they were the head of the Hufflepuff house.

That’s how it was for all the heads of houses, actually. Professors Red, Blue, Yellow, and Green. They even wore coordinating colors, and each matched with their house. They were identical – quadruplets, was that the word? – and it was so weird… and so cool!

You’d expect no less from a magic school!

One thing that Lance was pretty proud of was the way the teacher stumbled over their words as they tried to award points for the work. It had happened yesterday in Potions – it was as if they didn’t expect people from other houses to work together (there was more going on in this class than before, but still uncommon), and the Gryffindor was determined to get that look in every class he could.

He would make friends with people from every house! It was so limitinggg to stick to just Gryffindor, and Headmistress Allura had told him all about how the divides and rivalries were a ‘bunch of shit, anyway’. She then apologizes and bought him ice cream as long as he promised not to tell anyone she said that.

Man, Lance really loved her. She was great.

There was only one class left that he shared with another house where he didn’t have a buddy, and that was Flying with Ravenclaw. Potions was with Slytherins, and he had Pidge in there (Hunk stated at dinner that night that Pidge ‘used the boys dormitory’, as the Slytherin had put it, and while that phrasing made Lance wonder if Pidge was like HIM, that made Pidge a he), he had Herbology with his awesome new best friend Hunk, and now all he had to do was make a Ravenclaw friend to fly with! Perfect!

To be honest, though, Lance was wayyyy more excited about the flying. Football was always fun back home (REAL football, which everyone in this country knew, thankfully), but a sport? On brooms? Flying? Seriously, what more could he ask for?

Sure, it was disappointing that first years couldn’t play, but he bet they could PRACTICE. Why not?

Boy, flying practice was gonna be fun.

\-----

Lance was strongly reconsidering his decision to make friends with a Ravenclaw. Flying altogether, too, but especially the Ravenclaw.

They had all shuffled in, small little first years who weren’t really sure where they were going, and Professor Red directed them to each stand by brooms. One Lance’s side was a Gryffindor girl he didn’t really know, but on the other was a slightly shorter raven-haired Ravenclaw boy. Eagerly, Lance gave him a bright smile – could THIS be his Ravenclaw friend? – but the boy just stared at him blankly.

He wasn’t dissuaded by _that._

“Everyone, put your right hand over your brooms and say ‘Up’,” Professor Red was instructing, slowly walking through the line of children. “You have to mean it. Your broom will only listen if you really want it-“

Lance drowned out the rest of their speech by narrowing his eyes down at his broom. It was bent and twisted in spots, the twiggy end all out of sorts, but it was HIS broom and he was GONNA fly with it and so he focused on it intently. “Up!” he yelled, and it shot UP-

Only he had forgotten to hold out his hand and it shot right past him, right up into the sky before it finally drifted faaaar above anyone’s reach. He stared at it, despondent, while the professor sighed. “Well, that does happen at times. This is why you need to be _prepared_ for your broom.”

The Ravenclaw next to him sniggered, and Lance rounded on him with a glare. “Oh yeah!? Let’s see you do better!”

He frowned, and then smirked. “Fine.” Pointedly, the boy held out his right hand over his broom and very calmly said “Up.” The broom rose up steadily, and he wrapped his hand around it, pulling it to his chest with a pleased grin. “See? It’s not _my_ fault you didn’t practice.”

Lance had been ready to deflate and give up before that remark, but that just made him bristle, lunging forward. “I’ve never used a broom before, you jerk!”

The other boy mimicked his action, so they were almost forehead to forehead. “Then maybe you should’ve listened to-“

“Boys.” The voice of the professor made them both jump and look up at them. Professor Red stood in front of them, tapping their foot as the two children paused, visibly realizing that the professor and quite a few of their classmates were watching them argue. “Now is not the time. If you can’t stop, maybe detention will help…?”

Lance gulped. He didn’t know if they sent messages home about that, and the idea of Mama getting a message that he got detention in the very first week of school… Mutely, he shook his head. From the corner of his eyes, the Ravenclaw did the same, but he was a lot more scowl-y about it.

“Good. Mr. McClain, your broom.” Somehow in the ensuing fight, the professor had gotten his broom back down, and they handed it back over to Lance, who took it with a gulp. “Now, be more _prepared_ for your broom next time, understood?”

Meekly, he nodded. “Understood.”

The moment the professor stepped away, the Ravenclaw sniggered again, and Lance dropped his broom and _pounced._

\----

He didn’t care much about the professor scolding him as they pulled the two boys away from each other. He didn’t mind the stinging of his lip at where the Ravenclaw had dug in his fingernails, and he didn’t mind the walk to (what he assumed was) detention, shooting glares behind Professor Red’s back the whole way.

What he did mind, though, was being taken to Deputy Headmaster Takashi Shirogane. He was the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher who seemed perpetually in need of a good night’s sleep, but Lance thought he seemed super cool. He didn’t mind much when Lance blurted out the answer or got distracted or fidgeted in class – he just guided Lance back on-topic, and hadn’t said a word about the incessant tapping of his fingers.

Needless to say, he was almost as cool as Headmistress Allura. No wonder she made him her second-in-command.

It was almost the most effective person to go to for scolding, and Lance sunk lower and lower in his seat as Professor Shirogane lectured him about how he had to control himself, how he couldn’t react like that, how fighting was not okay and they were in their first WEEK, they hadn’t even been here for a whole week and they were fighting already, is this how the rest of their year was going to be-

The Ravenclaw apparently got fed-up part way through and interrupted. “Why am _I_ here, Shiro?” Lance gaped at how casually he addressed the professor. “I didn’t start fighting, it was all him.” At that, he shot a look at Lance, and he narrowed his eyes right back, returning the glare. Fuck him! Er, screw him!

Professor Shirogane sighed as if he had the whole weight of the world on his shoulders. (Maybe he did??) “Keith-“ Woah, woah, why was HE Keith but Lance was still Mr. McClain!? “You were antagonizing him. I heard all the details, you know.”

While part of him was pleased that this asshole-who-know-was-called-Keith was also getting in trouble, Lance was also a little too caught up on how they were talking to each other. “Wait, wait! Why is HE Keith and I’m Mr. McClain!? Why is he calling you Shiro?”

The two stared at him for a moment, and Lance squirmed under their gazes, feeling kinda stupid. Professor Shirogane recovered first. “I’m sorry, Mr. McClain, I forgot you wouldn’t know. Keith Kogane is my ward, I’m his guardian.” Lance made a small ‘o’ shape with his mouth, nodding as he absorbed that. Boy, that made the lecture even MORE embarrassing! The professor gave him a small smile, though. “I can call you Lance if you want.”

He lit up at the idea, and eagerly nodded, but before he could open his mouth, Kogane opened HIS big fat one. “No, you can’t!” The Ravenclaw turned to glare at Lance. “He’s not calling you Lance.”

Okay, now THIS was upsetting, and Lance glared right back. “Why not!? He said he would! I want him to! I don’t like being Mr. McClain!”

“Because you’re _stupid_ , that’s why he can’t!”

“Wha- Well, you’re a giant jerkhole!”

“No way, you’re-“

“BOYS.” Professor Shirogane’s voice rang out, the tone JUST like his Mama’s, and Lance cringed in his chair, immediately shutting his mouth. “I was going to let you off with a warning, but you leave me no choice. Ten points from Gryffindor, and ten points from Ravenclaw.” Lance twitched in his seat, but both he and Kogane found it better to keep silent. The professor nodded. “If I catch you two in a fight again, you’ll both get detention, together. Do I make myself clear?”

There was a silence as neither boy answered. Professor Shirogane waited a moment, before repeating himself. “Do I make myself clear?”

“Y-Yes, sir!”

“Yeah, Shiro.”

He nodded. “Good. Now, Lance, why don’t you head back to your tower. I have to talk to my ward for a moment.”

Even if Kogane was a jerkhole, that didn’t stop Lance from cringing in sympathy as he got up to leave. It wasn’t fun to get lectured by your parents, and he guessed Professor Shirogane counted as that. That was kinda scary, to be at school with your parent as one of the teachers…

Maybe that’s why he was so awful?

\---

Lance ended up reporting the days’ events to Hunk and Pidge in the library over Transfiguration homework in hushed whispers. Pidge had promised to find a classroom or something they could meet in – Lance had… trouble with being quiet – but right now the younger boy had yet to pull through.

“And then, then!” Lance hissed to Hunk, Pidge barely paying attention above his books, “It turned out that Professor Shirogane is his guardian!”

Hunk gasped. “Really? No way, that’s-“

“Wait, are you talking about Keith Kogane?” The two older boys paused, looking over to where Pidge had finally, FINALLY looked up from his book, blinking owlishly at them.

It took Lance a moment to recover. “Yes! You weren’t listening!?”

“I tune you out the moment you open your mouth,” he replied bluntly, a smile quirking at the corners of his lips. Lance clutched his heart. He would never recover from this devastating blow. “Anyway, what about Keith? Did he do something again?”

Hunk blinked. “Pidge, do you know him?”

The younger boy shrugged, nodding. “Yeah. My brother’s dating his guardian.”

There was a very, very long pause as the other two struggled to process that information. Lance finally said it. “Didn’t you say your brother was dating Allura?”

He shrugged again, but couldn’t hide a grin. “So I did.”

“…Riiiight.” Lance. Really wasn’t going to approach that subject any time soon, especially with that bizarre LOOK Pidge had on his face. That wasn’t somewhere he wanted to go, he thought. “But you know Keith?”

Pidge nodded. “Yeah. Since we were kids. We work together in Herbology. What happened?”

“He’s- He’s-“ Hunk put his hand on Lance’s shoulder and squeezed, and the boy brought his volume down enough to hiss at Pidge. “He’s such a jerkhole! How can you stand him!?”

The Slytherin let out a _giggle._ “He’s not so bad, really. He’s just kinda awkward. You just got to get to know him, first.”

“Hmph.” Lance folded his arms, narrowing his eyes at his friend. “We’ll see about that.”

\---

True to his word, Lance did see about it. He snuck glances at Kogane every single day they had flying (twice a week!), glaring as the other showed off how good he was with a broom. Every time he tried to challenge the Ravenclaw, it never ended well (he actually went to the hospital wing once!), and after his first detention after trying to fly over the roof of the castle (which… also was the aforementioned incident that put him in the hospital wing), Lance gave up on that portion.

Instead, he stuck to shooting Kogane little glares and stares throughout each lesson. He watched him from across the hall during meals. At astronomy once a week, he squinted over at the Ravenclaw Tower when Professor Holt wasn’t looking and tried to figure out if Keith was up to no good.

Hunk called it “cute”.

Pidge called it “an obsession, you idiot, and I’m going to report you to Shir- Professor Shirogane if you don’t stop _right now_ ”.

Lance called it his new way of staying on top of his newfound Rival, and refused to stop.

Time passed, though, even as he observed the Ravenclaw. Potions and Herbology he was the best at, but he thought it was because of Pidge and Hunk’s mitigating presences. DADA he was actually pretty good at, too, and Lance was pretty sure he’d be better at Transfiguration if he wasn’t scared crapless by Professor Black.

Astronomy was just difficult to stay awake for (Professor Holt was sweet and he always gently woke Lance up when he nodded off), Charm was fun if HARD, and the only thing that made Flying suck-y was the presence of his Rival. The less said about History of Magic (as nice as Professor Blue was!), the better, honestly.

It made sense that this couldn’t last. Every time that Lance had something awesome like this happen, had magic he could eagerly write back to the rest of his family about, friends to share candy snuck from the kitchens with (seriously, he was prying the location of the kitchens out of Pidge EVENTUALLY), and classes he was actually doing well in…

No wonder something went wrong.

It seemed fine. He was headed back to his tower after meeting up with Hunk and Pidge in the empty classroom that Pidge had FINALLY claimed for them. He hadn’t been able to focus, not at all, and he had eventually scrapped it and decided to head back to sleep. An early night and then maybe an early morning, and hopefully he could get his Charms homework done THEN.

So the boy was paying a little less attention than he should’ve while on the stairs of Hogwarts. He knew the way back to his tower, of course, but it changed every day. Part of the stairs moving, though he had only gotten caught on them a few times.

Fidgeting with the textbook in his hand, Lance stepped onto the stairs in front of him… and lost his footing. His feet were on the very end of the stairs, right by the crack, and the stable support behind him was _pulling away._ His book went flying. His arms pinwheeled.

And with a scream, his feet fell from underneath him, hands barely managing to catch on the edge of the stairs. God. _God god god god god god_ \- He was caught for NOW, but the stairs had to reach another ledge soon and then he’d be CRUSHED and he was only ELEVEN he didn’t want to DIE like this!

“H-Help!” he yelled, legs flailing in the air underneath him as he tried desperately to find something else, anything else to grab a purchase on. His fingers trembled keeping him afloat. “Is anyone there!? Help!”

“Where are you?” Lance could’ve _cried_ as a voice answered him, just as alarmed as him.

“I- I fell! I’m at the end of the stairs, p-please hurry, it’s moving, it’s moving!”

It took a few agonizing moments, and then there was a thump that rattled the whole staircase. Lance shuddered, his grip loosening, but it was okay. Keith Kogane appeared over the end of the stairs, and the Gryffindor had never been happier to see his Rival. “Grab on!” he yelled, holding out his hand, and Lance sucked in a breath of air, let go with one hand, and swung his arm forward to grab onto Keith’s hand.

The Ravenclaw YANKED him up with a strength Lance didn’t know he had, and he landed on top of Keith with an ‘oof’ as they landed on the stairs, Keith on his back and Lance on his stomach sprawled over him. Just in time, too. With a resounding thud, the stairs swung into place, connecting with another ledge. Lance looked back at where he had been hanging. He… he would’ve died. His hands would’ve been crushed. Maybe he would’ve just hung there until someone came by and saw him hanging there with his HANDS CRUSHED and-

“Hey, are you okay?” Keith half-sat up, putting a hand on Lance’s shoulder. “You’re shaking.”

Lance was, in fact, shaking. Trembling with fear. And with all of his eleven-year-old maturity, he flung his arms around Keith and burst into tears.

\---

The next half hour was a little blurry to the fear-stricken Lance. Professor Shirogane showed up, and he remembered something about refusing to let go of Keith (who was now Keith in his head, not Kogane, not Kogane after he literally SAVED HIS LIFE), and the next thing he knew, he was lying in a bed in the hospital wing, staring up at the white ceiling. The cover and sheets were pulled tight around him, the pillows plush and comforting beneath him, and he slowly, slowly relaxed, melting into the bed.

Something was holding his hand. Something was breathing on his neck, even.

Lance pushed himself up into a sitting position with his free hand, taking in the room. KEITH of all people was seated in a chair, half-sprawled over the bed, fast asleep and holding onto Lance’s hand. He did remember refusing to let go, but had Keith actually stayed…?

Hunk was in bed flush up against him, the only thing separating the two of them from fusing into one big person being Pidge, smooshed small in between them, with his face buried in Hunk’s chest. For a long moment, Lance watched his friends breathe with a small smile. That was… that was so sweet. His heart felt like it was going to burst.

So, he gave Keith’s hand a squeeze, and reached over to gently shake his shoulder. Keith jerked upwards with a start, and narrowly missed hitting Lance’s chin with his head. “Wha-?”

Lance gave him a small smile, too, and scooted over in the bed, patting the spot next to him. “You’ll hurt yourself if you sleep like that, Mama says. Come on in with us.” He was sure the bed could handle it. It was a MAGIC bed, after all.

Keith blinked at him, still dazed and half-asleep. “What…? Are you sure?”

He nodded. “Come on, so I can go back to sleep.”

After a long moment of simply STARING at the Gryffindor, Keith relaxed, reaching down to pull off his boots and crawl into bed with the three of them. It was smooshed, very smooshed, but it reminded him of home, bundled up with his younger cousins in bed. “Thanks, Keith,” he murmured, and he felt the other exhale, the rustle of the pillow as he nodded.

“…No problem, Lance.”

\----

Their group of three became four, and Lance pointedly ignored Pidge’s smug looks whenever Keith joined in their “study” group. It was supposed to be a study group, but it often ended up with Lance sprawled across Hunk’s lap as the Hufflepuff played with his hair, or Pidge blowing something up when he tried his dab hand at Potions, or Keith arguing with Lance until Hunk sat in between them to break it up. (The first time Hunk had hugged Keith, though, the Ravenclaw basically melted. It was kinda cute.)

They grew into a great rhythm that even Christmas break couldn’t interrupt. Both Hunk and Lance took the train back to the station to get picked up by their families, and it was GREAT to introduce them to each other. Hunk’s family was a mix of wizards and muggles, and it was really cool. (The wizards dressed so weird. Lance LOVED it and vowed to emulate it.)

One witch, whom Hunk called his Auntie, pumped Lance’s hand so hard that he swore he’d have _bruises_ later. Introducing Hunk to his family, all his cousins and stuff, was even more embarrassing. Leya cooooed over him, and they all went on about how CUTE he was. Thank god the younger ones weren’t there. Lance found himself progressively reddening, especially as they starting SHARING STORIES, before he finally butted in.

“OkaybutweshouldreallybegoingbyeHunk!”

He was so relieved to wave goodbye to Hunk and the rest of the Garretts, as much as he loved his friend. Lance… Lance was a “homebody”, and he missed his family so much. So so so so so much. Being able to enthusiastically describe to everyone all the magic he had been learning, the potions, the flying, his FRIENDS… Even if he couldn’t demonstrate anything, he loved it. Every bit of it.

Of course, that didn’t mean he didn’t write his friends. He sent out a letter basically every other day. To Pidge, to Hunk, even to Keith. Keith and Pidge were staying at the castle with their family – Keith was staying with Shiro, and while Pidge didn’t really CELEBRATE Christmas (“I’m Jewish, but I still like getting presents,” was his explanation), he was staying because of his brother and the whole ‘dating Shiro’ thing. Lance still wasn’t sure what he believed about that.

(Somewhere along the line, though, Professor Shirogane became ‘Shiro’ to all four of them, and it was such a hard press for Lance to not call him that in the middle of class that he just. Stayed quiet the whole gosh darn DADA class. Which he was starting to suspect was even MORE difficult than not calling him Shiro.)

He got a planner from Pidge for his birthday. While Lance wasn’t sure how useful it would be – he was TERRIBLE at remembering things, and remembering to write things down – he appreciated the thought just the same. Hunk got him some seeds that promised to “instantly grow! Like magic!” Carefully, Lance planted some of them in little pots on his windowsill, overlooking the beach. Overnight, they grew into two beautiful flowers that Lance couldn’t name but appreciated all the same, and a tiny little cactus. He l o v e d them, and decided to save the rest for school.

Keith, though… Keith got him a broomstick. It had been a long box, much larger than any other present he had either received or given, and it had been an agony to wait until Christmas to open it. He saved it for last, though, tucked away in the back, until finally Leya goaded him into nabbing it and ripping off the plain brown paper.

Inside was a broomstick. It looked brand new, like something he would see in a store on Diagon Alley. His family gasped and oohed and ahhed over it, but Lance had seen what the price tag was on a broom, he KNEW how expensive it was, and Keith, the Keith who he had argued with and punched in the face and gotten in trouble with he- he-

He _bought_ this for _him!?_

Leya nudged him. “Hey, hey, go try it out! Can you do that outside of school?”

Lance blinked at his older sister (okay, cousin, but she was basically a sister anyway), startled, before a grin crossed his face. “It doesn’t take a wand and I don’t have to do magic. I think I can.”

Everyone crowded out onto the beach as Lance readied himself, broomstick between his legs. He had never been more thankful that this was where his abuelita lived, their own private sector of the beach where others couldn’t intrude and spot him, and he took a deep breath. He readied his hands, clutching at the stick, and then adjusted him the way that Keith had corrected him in the third week of classes.

He bent his knees like Professor Red to. He took a deep breath, staring up at the sky and praying, wishing, hoping this would work.

And then Lance pushed off, shooting into the open blue sky like a rocket.

\----

The first thing that Lance did when he saw Keith and Pidge waiting for him and Hunk at the station was run up to FLING his arms around the Ravenclaw, sending him staggering back in surprise. “Wha- Lance?”

He pulled back to beam at the other, not caring about how close they were, or how Keith was red with shock. “Thankyousomuchforthebroom!” With that, he released Keith only to pounce upon Pidge, pulling the younger child in for a noogie. “Keith got me a broomstick!”

“Agh!” He shoved uselessly at Lance, before knuckling his fingers into Lance’s side and hitting a ticklish spot. Lance **giggled** and let go of the glaring Slytherin. “I _know,_ I helped him pick it out. You two are ridiculous.” He shared a knowing look with Hunk.

Lance and Keith glanced at each other, before shrugging. Who knew what they were up to?

\---

Classes passed in a blur of fun and learning and tears shed over each late night filled with homework. It was difficult, being in different dorms. Lance didn’t realize until now how much of a struggle that was. They had a curfew where they had to be back in their common rooms, but there was no time they had to go to bed. Lots of students stayed up late, working with their friends on homework. Lance… Lance couldn’t _do_ that.

Because all four of them were in different houses, they each had to retreat to their own, different common room. They couldn’t work together on their homework, and Lance was quickly finding that he **needed** them to keep him grounded. They would keep him as focused on the task as they could by working on it at the same time, if possible. (Very handy when it came to short answer questions.) When it came to essays, Pidge would give him a piece of candy every time he finished a certain length. It worked, it helped Lance focus, and while he didn’t know if the others desperately needed to work together like he did…

It didn’t matter. Because he really, really needed it, and he was starting to fall behind in his classes. He hadn’t turned in any Transfiguration homework this week, and he was almost grateful when Shiro pulled him aside after DADA that Thursday.

“Lance, are you doing okay?” he asked, all fatherly concern, giving his shoulder a light squeeze. “I’ve been talking to the other professors, and you have a lot of late work. You didn’t turn in your essay yesterday. Is something going on?”

Lance very resolutely didn’t cry. Or give Shiro a hug. “I-“ He sucked in a breath, and continued. “I need Pidge and Hunk and Keith. To study. I can’t- I can’t get it done otherwise.” It was so hard to bring himself to actually DO it, and he never remembered in time, or he’d look up and it’s 2 am and he hadn’t even started and- “They. Keep me on track, so I can get it done.” They nudged him and held him to the certain times and let him take small breaks and

“We have to go to our common rooms too early, so I can’t… I can’t do it without them.”

He thought they needed him, too. He made sure that Pidge slept, pushed the small child to the corner and gave him a blanket and a pillow and made him SLEEP. Keith was always forgetting to eat, or to bathe, or to just plain take care of himself – he and Hunk always looked at each other with concern and then took care of the Ravenclaw. Hunk seemed to have it the most together out of the group, but Lance lost count of the amount of times he had needed to just _hold_ Hunk, let him melt against the Gryffindor, let the tension ease out of his body and let his anxiety ebb for just a little bit.

No, he needed them, and they needed him, and he couldn’t resist the urge to sniffle.

Shiro stopped, and bent down slightly to wrap his arms around Lance. He leaned into it. With another teacher, it would’ve been really really weird, but Shiro was like… Keith’s _dad._ So it wasn’t weird, as long as he didn’t think of him as Professor Shirogane because then it- became really weird so d o n ‘ t think about that-

“I’ll talk to the Headmistress to see if we can work out some arrangements for you four,” Shiro said, and Lance looked up at him, absolutely astonished.

“Really? You think she’ll let us?”

He nodded. “I’m sure we can work something out.”

Lance _relaxed_ , tension draining away from his body. “Thank you, Shiro. Er, Professor Shirogane.”

Shiro simply quirked a tired smile. “I’ll see what I can do.”

\---

Lance wasn’t sure what Shiro said to the headmistress, or what words went down, but all he knew is that now they were allowed to study together after curfew, but with two conditions. 1) Shiro had to be there. This was a fine rule by him. Shiro was really cool and it meant he had someone else to ask questions of when he was stuck, because Shiro knew a LOT. The second rule, though, was that they had to do it in Shiro’s rooms.

That meant that Lance got to see Keith’s bedroom. He hadn’t meant to, the first time. He had been curious, Shiro was distracted answering a Charms question for Hunk, and so Lance carefully nudged open the door none of them had touched yet. It opened soundlessly to a bedroom. Red comforter on the bed, a few scattered photographs. Quidditch posters on the wall – though they didn’t feel quite right, stood out.

Lance padded in, carefully keeping quiet as he headed towards one of the pictures, picking it up and squinting at it. It was of a Korean woman holding a small baby, with a much younger Shiro – he looked like a teenager…? – right there next to her.

“That’s my mother.” Keith was so quiet as he came up behind him that Lance _jumped,_ almost dropping the picture in the process. Thankfully, he didn’t, so he turned to face his friend.

“Is Shiro your dad…?”

The Ravenclaw shook his head. “No, I never knew him. My mother and Shiro were friends, and she died when I was really little, so Shiro took me in. He’s… he’s like my dad, but I’ve never called him that.” He looked distinctly uncomfortable.

Lance frowned. “Why not?”

Keith… hesitated, sitting down on the bed. After setting the picture on the shelf, Lance sat next to him. “I… I’ve always sort of. Hoped. That whoever my father is might show up. I didn’t want to replace him before he even got here. You know?” He seemed almost desperate that Lance agree, that Lance accept it.

He nodded, nudging Keith’s shoulder with his own. “Yeah. That makes sense, Keith.”

“Thanks.” He relaxed, relieved at that.

They sat in silence for a little bit, but it was comfortable. There was nothing bad about it, and Lance was relieved, leaning back on his hands. Of course, it couldn’t stay this way forever, and finally Lance spoke up. “So if you’ve known Shiro for forever… Do you have any embarrassing stories about him?”

Keith grinned. “Actually… When I was five, there was this one time at the supermarket…”

\----

They passed their exams. Their classes. Well, mostly – probably? They didn’t get grades, but Lance was pretty certain they passed. Keith didn’t really seem to struggle at all. Hunk cried into Lance’s shoulder a few times, but overall seemed okay. Lance struggled and ate an entire jar of chocolates, but probably managed to pass. Pidge didn’t sleep a wink that whole week until finally, Professor Holt the Astronomy teacher stopped by Shiro’s rooms to scoop him up and carry him back to the Slytherin dorms.

That was when Lance finally, _finally_ made the connection, jabbing his finger at the professor with wide eyes. “You- _You’re Pidge’s older brother!”_

Professor Holt stared at him, caught off guard. “Y-Yes?” he said uncertainly, glancing at Shiro as if trying to tell whether this was Normal Lance Behavior.  

“I have a very important question for you!” He scrambled off his seat, getting up in the professor’s personal space. “Are you dating Shiro or headmistress Allura?”

His face colored. Surprisingly, so did Shiro’s. “I, um…” Pidge’s brother coughed. “…Both?”

Lance’s eyes shot open. Keith didn’t seem surprised at all, but Hunk was on the same page as him. “Both!?” he squeaked, surprised, before rounding on the blushing Shiro. “Are you dating both of them, too!?” Slowly, Shiro nodded. “I. Urgh, Pidge, you _troll_.”

Keith sniggered. “You could’ve asked me.” Lance threw a textbook at him.

\----

Pidge and Keith didn’t take the train ride back – it was just Lance and Hunk. He scooped Pidge up, giving the tiny child a twirl – despite the grumbles, he KNEW Pidge loved him – and passed the Slytherin like a ragdoll off to Hunk before standing in front of Keith.

The two hesitated, not exactly sure how to say good-bye to each other, before Lance gave him a grin. “Don’t pick too many fights this summer? You don’t want someone to ruin your pretty little face.”

Keith started, reddening, and then scowled at him. “You better not, either. I’d hate to take time out of my vacation to come to your funeral.”

Hunk shook his head, swinging his arms around both of their shoulders and pulling them into him to give them a squeeze. “You guys are ridiculous. I love you.”

“Huuuunk!” Lance whined, pushing at his best friend’s chest. Keith, surprisingly, didn’t protest, simply melting into it, while Pidge clawed his way up Hunk’s back and wrapped his arms around Hunk’s neck for a half-hug. “You’re worse than Mama!”

He laughed and cuddled Lance even tighter. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

\---

It wasn’t until after he had bid Hunk farewell at the station (he got another squeeze, and had the promise extracted that they would spend time together this summer), had dragged all of his stuff up to his room, and said hi to all of his family that Lance finally, _finally_ relaxed, sinking into his desk chair with a puff of air.

He had a letter to write, and he wasn’t looking forward to it.

Carefully, he pulled out a piece of parchment from his trunk, as well as a quill – he had gotten used to writing with them, and he liked them – and started carefully scratching out a letter.

_Dear Shiro,_

_Don’t tell Keith about this! I have a question. Mama says I’m a growing boy and puberty’s coming soon, and that’s kinda ~~scary~~ not cool. Is there any magic or potions or stuff I can use to stop it or change it?_

_Cause the thing is… When I was born, everyone thought I was a girl…_


	2. Love/Hate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the lovely response, everyone!! And again, Pidge is referred to with 'he' pronouns this chapter, despite being a trans girl, because she's not yet out to Lance. <3

Lance was pissed off. That was not an uncommon occurrence – while he was definitely not an angry young man, he often blew his fuse for a short while and then was fine just a few minutes later. No, this wasn’t that kind of angry.

This was anger that had him sulking, sprawled across Shiro’s sofa with his head in Hunk’s lap, who absentmindedly carded his fingers through his hair. There was something about the Hufflepuff’s touch that always soothed Lance, and he was so okay with it right now, even with his arms folded across his chest as he half-curled up into a ball. “I can’t believe this!” he was saying, muttering it to himself over and over again. “I can’t believe he’d do that!”

Pidge sighed, looking up from where he was sprawled on the floor with a textbook and parchment. “It’s not exactly Keith’s fault he made the Quidditch team and you didn’t,” the Slytherin pointed out with impeccable logic, but Lance wasn’t having any of it.

“Still! I can’t believe he made it and I didn’t!” All of a sudden, Hunk’s fingers grew tight in Lance’s hair and the Gryffindor yelped, bolting up and reaching for his head. “What’d you do that for!?” he asked with watering eyes.

Hunk’s smile was nigh terrifying. “When Keith walks in through that door, you’re going to congratulate him. He earned this. You’re going to say it and mean it, okay?”

Lance gulped, nodding rapidly, before slumping back against the back of the couch with a sigh. It wasn’t Keith’s fault, that was true, but…

He had felt he did so _good_ at tryouts. Zipping his way through the hoops, going super fast, and he even caught the ball a few times! But he had desperately wanted to be a beater, get to smack the ball around, and two older students were picked as beaters. Then the chasers from last year got picked again.

And Lance was left in the dust.

It was disappointing at first, but he was resigned to it. Second years didn’t make the team often, so it wasn’t like he was awful or something. He just had to be older. Yes, that was it!

Unfortunately, he stuck around to watch the Ravenclaw tryouts later, hiding in the corner of the stands. And… and…

Keith was their new seeker.

It was so unfair, that Keith got to be on the team and that Lance didn’t. He had practiced this summer, a lot! It had been the only magic he could do (well, and read about magic, but flying was so much better?), so he spent sooo much time on it when he wasn’t hanging out with his friends or family, and so to have it right in front of him and then have it snatched away… if Keith hadn’t made it, it would’ve been okay. No second years would’ve made it, and Lance could’ve chalked it up to the fact that he was young, and not his skills.

Now, though, he had to confront what it really meant. Keith was good enough to make it on his team. Lance… Lance wasn’t.

It stung.

He brought his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around them, even as Hunk wrapped an arm around him and pulled him into his side. Lance started at that, before accepting the comfort for what it was and melting into his friend.

It wasn’t until a half hour later that Keith finally showed up, cheeks flushed from flying and broomstick in hand. There was a sparkle to his eyes that Lance had never seen before, and he couldn’t decide whether that pissed him off or made him happy for Keith. Both? At the same time?

That could’ve been HIS sparkle, hmph.

Keith was smiling, though, grinning as he strode in and shut the door behind him, and that was enough to make Lance soften. He liked it when Keith actually smiled, they all did. “I made it! I’m Ravenclaw’s new Seeker!”

Hunk scooted off the couch, leaving Lance to flop uselessly down onto it, scooping Keith up in a huge hug and squeezing him. “That’s awesome, Keith!” he congratulated, giving his friend a grin. “Good job!”

The Ravenclaw turned a little red, but smiled back. “Thanks, Hunk.”

He glanced at Pidge, who gave him a thumbs up, looking up from his textbook momentarily. “I can’t promise I’ll go to any of your games, but cool. You did a good.”

“Heh. Thanks, Pidge.”

Lance was the last one, and he peeled himself off the couch to stumble forward and wrap his arm around Keith. “You’ve gotta get out there and kick ass for _both_ of us, okay?” he informed his fellow 12-year-old seriously. Or 13, that’s right, Keith turned a year older at the very beginning of every school year.

Keith nodded. “For the record… you weren’t awful.” His smile grew a little, unaware of Lance’s turmoil on whether to accept that as a compliment or get mad. “Maybe next year?”

Lance went with being huffy. “Yeah, _maybe_.”

It was awkward for a few moments, the Gryffindor withdrawing and folding his arms across his chest, before Hunk finally butted in. “Well, _I’m_ waiting until the Hufflepuff Keeper graduates to try out. So I got two more years.”

Pidge snorted. “And then I’ll be the only one without brain damage. Good. Those bludgers are _deadly_.”

“I’m sure you’ll make it, Hunk,” Keith said, ignoring Pidge and shaking his head. “Where’s Shiro? Is he in here?”

Hunk shook his head. “No, he said he had some papers left to grade, and then he’d stop by.”

Keith deflated a little at that, and Lance nudged shoulders with him. Cheering up he could do. “He said that a while ago, so I bet he’s almost done. Wanna help me with History of Magic til then?”

The Ravenclaw snorted, but gave a nod, setting his broomstick against the wall and following Lance over to the table. “Have you even started your questions yet?”

Lance plopped in a chair, but hesitated. “…No?”

Keith shook his head, stealing the seat next to him. “You’re hopeless.”

“Truth,” mumbled Pidge from the floor.

\----

It wasn’t until the third week of school that Shiro finally addressed his and Lance’s summer messages. It was the end of a long day of crashing at Shiro’s place (more and more, they were being left alone there, and Lance was prettyyyy sure that was against the rules but who was he going to report it to?) and he was handing out late passes.

“One for you, Hunk. Pidge…” He paused. “Keith, are you going to sleep here, or in your tower?”

Keith made a face. “Here.”

Shiro sighed. “You’ll have to sleep in your dormitory eventually. Lance, I need to talk to you, so I’ll walk you back myself.”

Suddenly, every eye was on him, and the Gryffindor gulped and reddened. “Uh, okay?”

The professor put a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry, it’s just about some late DADA homework.”

That made Lance redden even more. “Hey, I told you that essay was coming, it’s just being-“

“On the way, Lance.” Shiro steered the three children out the door, Keith flopping down onto the couch to wait for his guardian. He waited a moment to make sure that Hunk and Pidge were headed safely downstairs (holding hands, good on Hunk), clutching their passes in case they ran into a prefect this late, before starting off in the direction of the Gryffindor tower.

Lance hastened to follow. “Uhh… Shiro?” he asked after a moment, sticking his hands in his robe pockets and glancing up at the teacher. “I thought you gave me an extension on that?”

He nodded. “I did, sorry, but I wanted to make up an excuse. You know what you wrote me about this summer?”

The Gryffindor’s pulse went off like a jackhammer. It had been exceedingly difficult to work up the courage to write Shiro, asking if there was any way he could delay or stop or change puberty with magic, and it had been even more nerve wracking when school started up and Shiro said _nothing_ to him about it. Hastily, he nodded. “Y-Yeah, I was, uh, kinda starting to wonder about that…”

The professor reached out to squeeze his shoulder. “Sorry. I had to talk to Professor Coran about that. There are… potions you can take that will delay puberty. You won’t grow, um, breasts, or anything like that.” He flushed, seemingly embarrassed to be talking about it. “If you talk to him after your last class this Friday, he’ll tell you more about it.”

Lance halted. Stopped in the middle of the hall and stared up at Shiro. It took Shiro a minute to realize that the student wasn’t with him, and he paused, turning with confusion. “Lance…?”

The boy leapt forward and wrapped his arms around his Professor, burying his face in his chest. “Thankyouthankyouthankyou,” he chanted in a quick rush, before quickly releasing him, red-faced. “Thank you, Professor.”

Shiro was definitely surprised, but softened. “No problem, Lance. Come on. Let’s get you to bed.”

“You know I’m not gonna sleep for hours now, right?”

A sigh. “Unfortunately, I guessed.”

\----

While it felt like ages before he could actually talk to Professor Coran and get the deets, once he did, it was rather simple.

“Drink one of these every other day,” the Potions professor had instructed, passing over a box of small, finger sized bottles filled with a strange goopy purple liquid. “You have enough for two weeks, and I’ll give you more when you run out! Chop chop!”

Lance was then unceremoniously pushed out the door. The professor had like three cauldrons bubbling at the same time, anyway – he was pretty sure that, Gryffindor or no, he didn’t want to be there for the ensuing explosion.

He stowed the box underneath his bed, and none of his dormmates cared or batted an eye. The other three had banded together in a trio, and Lance was forever the odd one out, changing in the bathroom, running off to join people from other houses, and now hiding strange potions underneath his bed.

That’s okay. He didn’t mind one bit. Lance had an awesome group of friends from every single house, cool professors he had good relationships with, and a great family he wrote home to every single week like clockwork.

Yeah, he didn’t mind at all.

\---

While Lance was guzzling down a rather tasteless potion every other day, and performing his usual struggle bus throughout school while his friends did their best to help, life happened. Keith spent less time with the three of them because he was practicing Quidditch. Pidge made… things in a cauldron in Shiro’s closet. Whenever he wasn’t in it, it was locked. Hunk helped out with the Care of Magical Creatures class despite not being a third year – Professor Balmera adored him, apparently, and he would wax on about how amazing she was to anyone who listened.

Lance felt… a little left out. So when November rolled around, and the first match of the Quidditch season was gonna start – Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw – he got all into it. He made posters. Bugged Shiro into getting him face paint. Stole some clothes from Keith’s room.

And when they sat down at the stadium, waving eagerly down at a stunned Keith, the three of them were all honorary Ravenclaws. Pidge, who had protested the entire way but still came, sniggered. “You know this is against **your** house, right? Why are you cheering for Ravenclaw?”

Lance tried to ignore him. “Gryffindor made the bad, baaaad choice of not letting me on the team, so Ravenclaw all the way!” He shook his poster enthusiastically, yelling down at the players. “Kick Gryffindor’s ass, Keith! You’re kicking ass for both of us, remember!?”

The only reason the trio knew Keith heard them was how his face turned bright red, and he looked away, half-hiding his face as if that would stop him. The three laughed. “You got this, Keith!” Hunk yelled, joining in. “Get that snitch and win!”

If points were given out for the most enthusiastic cheerleaders, Hunk, Pidge, and Lance would’ve earned 100 points over by the end of that game. They hollered. They hooted. They shook their banners until they accidentally ripped them, and then they just jumped up and down and yelled at the top of their lungs. Pidge actually got into it, and Hunk lifted up the smaller boy so he could sit on the Hufflepuff’s shoulders, yelling at the top of his lungs.  It was _amazing._

Ravenclaw won, of course. All their cheering paid off. The two houses remained pretty neck and neck, chasers going back and forth and bludgers never quite hitting anyway, until Keith _dived._ Pidge, Hunk, and Lance screamed in unison, roaring with the rest of the crowd as the Gryffindor seeker desperately tried to catch up, zooming after the blue blur but it was-

It was to no avail.

Keith’s hand closed over the snitch, the crowd went wild, and Ravenclaw won the game.

The three waited outside the changing room for their friend to emerge, watching as the other Ravenclaws came out one by one. After a little bit, Shiro and Professor Holt joined them.

“Professors are supposed to be impartial to the houses,” Professor Holt explained, pushing his glasses nervously up the bridge of his nose. “But given we have family involved, we’re okay. Headmistress Allura doesn’t have that excuse.”

It was really weird for Lance to hear about the really great headmistress and think about her in relation to their group. Shiro was basically Keith’s DAD, of course he was around. (But, mindfully, Lance remembered he wasn’t. Keith was still holding out hope.) Professor Holt was Pidge’s older brother. But Headmistress Allura… she was dating both of them, yet they were her only connection to the rest of them.

Still, he wished she would hang around. He had really liked her when she showed him around in his 1st year.

Lance wasn’t sure how long the five of them waited – it was cold, so he focused more on rubbing his hands together and hopping from foot to foot, at least until Hunk noticed and pulled him into a nice, warm hug. “Man, you’re like a furnace.”

Hunk grinned. “I try.”

The wait was absolutely worth it, though, when Keith finally stumbled out of the rooms and stared at them, wide-eyed. It was clear he didn’t expect this.

Shiro clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Nice playing, Keith.”

The spell was broken, and all five of them crowded around him, talking over each other in their excitement for the game and Keith’s spectacular snatch of the snitch. (Say THAT five times fast.) Lance couldn’t even hear himself speak – but he did hear Professor Holt’s voice above the ruckus. “Hey,” he snapped, and the three students jolted. They had never heard him speak like that before. “Give Keith some space.”

Now that the professor drew his attention to it, Lance could see that Keith was a little pale, kind of overwhelmed by the group. He abruptly felt bad. “Sorry, Keith,” he apologized, folding his arms tight across his chest and glancing away. “We can take turns.”

Pidge snorted at the idea. “Why don’t we just head up to dinner and talk on the way? No offense, but I’m _starving_.”

Shiro smiled. “We can order food from the kitchens, straight to my rooms.”

“Perfect!” Hunk crowed, grabbing both Pidge and Lance’s hands and starting to drag them off and lead the way. Hastily, Lance reached out and grabbed Keith’s free hand, tugging him along with them.

He looked startled, even now, to be included in this, almost dropping his broomstick out of surprise. The Ravenclaw was the least physically affectionate of the bunch, but… Lance gave his hand a squeeze and gave him a smile. “Nice playing, Keith.”

Keith relaxed slightly, squeezing his hand right back. “I had to kick ass for two, didn’t I? Think I succeeded?”

“Dude, totally.”

\----

The only annoying thing about having talked to Shiro and now getting potions to drink every other day to solve his puberty problem was the fact that Shiro _insisted_ on walking him back every time they stuck around his rooms that late. It wasn’t every night – once or twice a week, on average, nowadays, but it was still really annoying.

Lance sighed. “No, Shiro, I haven’t-“ he wrinkled his nose. “Detected any changes in my body.” God, this was so so so so awkward to talk about. “Isn’t that kind of the point?”

The professor huffed, nodding and giving Lance’s shoulder a pat. “I just want to make sure. You’ll go to me or Professor Coran if anything goes wrong?”

If Lance was going to be honest, he’d probably go to Professor Coran. While the man liked to ramble on about some new weird topic every time Lance showed up and he **wasn’t** in the middle of like three potions at once, he was certain that Professor Coran was both more likely to have the answers _and_ wasn’t going to go into ‘mother hen’ mode over him.

Shiro would. Shiro really, really would.

“Yes, Shiro, I promise.” Lance agreed reluctantly. “If something happens, I’ll go to someone. Okay?”

That was really all the professor could do. Trust in his student’s words, both that it was going fine and that he’d confide in someone if it went wrong, and so Shiro nodded. “Okay. I’m still going to ask if you’re alright a lot.”

“I kinda figured.” Lance shrugged. “You’re like Mama. Always gotta worry about something.”

\---

The Gryffindor hadn’t thought much about why Shiro seemed so preoccupied that it all go well. He had just chalked it up to the other’s overprotectiveness and moved on. It was just like how Shiro always asked after his grades, made sure that Lance was doing his homework (and sometimes giving him extensions), and all that. By being friends with Keith, they had become an extension of his family, someone to look after, and so he wanted to make sure they were doing alright.

Yeah, he had just chalked it up to overprotectiveness. It wasn’t until he skidded into Coran’s office, a little late for his usual pick-up, that he wondered if it was something different. Cause… Princess Allura was there.

Lance had slammed open the door, not expecting that. “Professor Coran, I-“ And then he stopped in his tracks, wide-eyed. The beautiful headmistress was sitting in one of the two chairs in the office, delicately perched and just as wonderful and amazing as the last time he had seen her up close, but now she was staring at him. “Er, uh… Hi, Professor Allura,” he stumbled out, not sure whether to officially call her ‘professor’ or ‘headmistress’. Did it matter?

After a few moments of intensely awkward silence, she relaxed, giving him a smile. “Hello, Lance.” He blushed, kicking at the floor with his feet. He was Lance to her! Not Mr. McClain, but Lance! “Did you need to see Coran?”

He nodded. “Y-Yeah. I came to pick up my-“ Lance nearly swallowed his tongue trying to stop that sentence. He didn’t want to explain to Professor Allura this, and he cast his eyes about quickly. There! Sitting on Coran’s desk was his box of little purple bottles, and he nearly collapsed from relief before gesturing at them. “These potions. Medicine, you know.”

Allura’s eyes lit up with- with _recognition?_ “Oh, puberty blockers.” She nodded, as if all questions had been answered right then and there. “Coran’s very good at those, even if they do not taste the best.”

Lance stared at her, and slowly crossed the distance between them. “Why… why do you know what they taste like?” he asked quietly, staring at her with a hope he didn’t know he possessed.

She softened, reaching out to take his small hands in her own. “Once upon a time, Lance, I had to drink those every day as well.” Allura stroked the back of his hand with her thumb. “I know he won’t mind me telling you, so… Professor Holt did, as well.”

She was holding his hands, and she was holding all the secrets to his universe in her hands. He swallowed sharply. “Did you… stop? You don’t drink them now?” He glanced over her. Did this mean he would decide he wasn’t a boy anymore? He would grow up and he would be like Headmistress Allura? Though there were worse fates, his guts twisted at the thought.

Allura shook her head. “I drink different ones, now. They change my body, not stop the changes.” Lance couldn’t help but look at her with confusion, and she smiled, letting go with one hand to cup his cheek. “Lance, you’re a trans boy. I’m a trans _woman._ When I was born, everyone thought I was a _boy_.”

He made a small ‘o’ with his mouth, but couldn’t talk. Couldn’t breathe. After a moment of hesitation, Allura wrapped her arms around the child, and he shook, clinging to her and starting to cry. “Sssh, sssh, Lance,” she murmured, with the weight of one who truly understood, and rubbed his back. “It’ll be okay. I promise.”

\-----

Everything about that had him walking on clouds for the next few days. Headmistress Allura was like him. Professor Holt was like him! He paid more attention in Astronomy, staring at the professor and trying to see if he could detect a curve on him. Anything… off, anything that would hint to what might lay underneath his clothing, but it was always too dark to tell. When he saw Headmistress Allura at the Great Hall, she was too far away to really look.

Still, it was… it was wonderful.

Lance wanted to burst with how delighted he was. He loved this. He loved being able to be affectionate with 3 of his teachers (though he… really wasn’t with Professor Holt, not like Shiro and now Headmistress Allura), and knowing he was one of the few exceptions, one of the few who got hugs, and he loved his friends and being able to hang out in Shiro’s rooms and-

He was so happy.

His friends definitely noticed. Hunk didn’t comment on it, aside from asking a simple “Did something happen?” and accepting Lance’s non-answer. Pidge had been intensely eager to know, before suddenly stopping in all his questions. Which was… weird, okay, but Lance had long since given up on understanding the Slytherin.

Keith, though, was suspicious.

It was just those two today, just Keith and Lance and Shiro grading in his bedroom, and Keith plopped down on the couch next to Lance. “Why are you so happy?” he asked gruffly, eyes narrowed.

Lance rolled his eyes. “I just AM. Can’t I be happy? I get to go home soon and see my family! Christmas break starts in two days!”

That, if anything, only made the Ravenclaw more suspicious. “That’s not why you’re happy.”

That was Lance’s cue to narrow his eyes right back. “Are you calling me a liar?”

Keith nodded. “You’re hiding something, and it has to do with Shiro!”

The accusation totally blindsided Lance, and he stared at the other. “What? Shiro? Are you kidding me?”

“I’m not kidding you,” he growled. “Shiro’s walking you back every night, he’s worrying about you, and he’s spending more time with you than me. It has something to do with Shiro!”

Lance couldn’t help it. His instinctive reaction was to laugh. Out of everything, Keith latched onto Shiro? Like, what, Lance was gonna take him AWAY or something? Was he really that worried?

Unfortunately, that was a bad move. Keith reddened, embarrassed and angry all at once, and shoved Lance off the sofa so he hit the floor with a pained gasp. “Dude, what was that for!?” Lance angrily demanded, shoving himself to his feet.

Keith stood as well. “Don’t laugh at me! This has something to do with Shiro! He’s mine, not yours!” He reached out and shoved Lance again.

Maybe if he was older, or someone else, or more mature, Lance could’ve calmly told the clearly hurting Keith that he wasn’t going to take Shiro away from him, that Shiro was his guardian, but Shiro looked out for Keith’s friends, too. Maybe then this wouldn’t have gone so badly.

But Lance was a 12-year-old ball of frustration, and he _pounced_ on the other.

It took a few minutes of fighting for Shiro to hear them and come in. It took a few more minutes of that for him to dart in there and manage to break up the two. In that time, Keith gained a bloody lip, Lance would probably get a black eye, and their bodies both _hurt._ Shiro glared at them both, folding his arms. “What do you have to _say_ for yourselves?” he demanded.

Lance said nothing. Keith, though, turned and spat blood at the Gryffindor, only narrowly missing. “I hate you,” was all he said, and that was enough.

“Fine,” Lance said, turning on his heel and scooping up his bag, ignoring Shiro’s immediate protests. “Fine. I’ll go, then.”

The door shut decisively behind him.

\----

For the next two days, Lance avoided everyone. Unfortunately, though, he wasn’t the only one taking the train back, and there was only so long he could duck into compartments to hide from his best friend. Eventually, Hunk cornered him, shutting the door behind him and folding his arms, foot tapping impatiently. “Are you going to tell me what this is all about, or do I need to pry it out of you?”

Lance groaned, flopping over on the seat. Hunk took the other. “I had a fight with Keith. It was stupid. Leave me alone.”

The Hufflepuff rolled his eyes. “You’re _both_ my friends, and I don’t want to see _either_ of you upset like this.”

That gave him pause. “Keith’s upset?”

“Yes, idiot. He cried.” Hunk told him bluntly, looking down at his feet. “He’s upset.”

For a moment, Lance considered feeling bad, but HE hadn’t done anything. Nothing at all. “Hmph. Well, that’s his problem,” he announced, rolling on the seat so he faced the back. Didn’t have to look at Hunk that way.

“You’re not gonna do anything?”

Something sounded funny with Hunk’s voice, but Lance refused to turn and see. “No way. It’s not my fault. If he wants to be dumb and ruin everything, that’s on him, not me.”

“Lance, you’re- you’re-“ Hunk’s voice _cracked_ , and Lance shot up in alarm. “I can’t believe you!”

Hunk was _crying,_ Lance realized with horror, his face in his hands, and the boy scrambled over to the other seat, taking his friend in his arms. Hunk clung to him, burying his face in Lance’s shoulder and crying, even as Lance rubbed his back. “Hunk, sssh… I’m sorry. I’m sorry. What’s wrong?”

“I d-don’t _like_ it when my friends fight!” he cried, fingers hooked in Lance’s shirt as he shook, trembled. “It’s so- nobody’s been talking, it’s so quiet, and n-nobody’s even telling us what _happened!_ ”

He hadn’t thought about it. About how fighting that bad and then storming off for days would… would affect Pidge and Hunk. Shiro, too, maybe. “…I’m sorry,” he whispered, feeling the waves of shame roll over him. Maybe he hadn’t started it, but he… Keith had been upset, had been jealous, and Lance suddenly thought about how it would look. Shiro taking such an interest in Lance when Shiro was the only family that Keith had.

The shame only increased. He could’ve explained.

“Keith was… he was upset about how much time I was spending with Shiro,” Lance explained quietly, bringing up one hand to take out Hunk’s headband and card his hand through his friend’s hair. It was gentle, soothing, and Hunk slowly relaxed against him. “How he walks me back all the time and is always making sure I’m doing okay?”

Hunk nodded, turning his head so his cheek smooshed against Lance’s shoulder. “Yeah. Why… why does he do that? Aside from, y-y’know…” He hiccupped, but smiled slightly. “Normal protective Shiro.”

Lance… hesitated. If there was anyone he could tell, it would be Hunk. He knew Hunk. He (when he wasn’t too embarrassed to admit it) loved Hunk. So he spilled his guts. He told him about how when he had been born, he thought he was a girl and so did everyone else. How he grew up and realized that he wasn’t. How happy he had been when he got the Hogwarts letter with his chosen name on it, how he asked Shiro for help, and that’s why Shiro was checking on him and making sure because he was dating _two_ trans people and he knew what he was doing and-

“Sssh.” Hunk pressed a finger to Lance’s lip to silence the other’s torrent of words, and he stopped. He flushed, embarrassed, but because of his rambling – not their intimacy. Never that, not with Hunk. “Okay. You don’t want to tell Keith this?”

Silently, Lance shook his head. He didn’t want to talk to Keith about this, even if he knew that Keith would accept it – he had to, after all, because of Headmistress Allura and Professor Holt. Pidge would, too, because of the professor. But he still… not yet. Maybe not ever.  Hunk nodded. “Okay. Okay. You don’t have to. Do you want me to talk to Keith?”

Lance hesitated. It was a tempting offer. But he… no, Hunk was already distressed by this, and it wasn’t Hunk’s job to take care of him. They were friends, but that didn’t mean Hunk had to do everything for him. He shook his head. “No. I’ll… I’ll talk to him about it.”

Even though Hunk’s tears were long vanished, the two still sat curled into each other on the seat. Hunk turned his head into Lance’s neck, and the smaller boy didn’t even twitch. “You could always write him. Might be easier.”

“…Yeah.” He waited a moment. “Sorry for… for not telling you.”

“Dude, don’t. You don’t have to share if you don’t want to.”

“Thanks.”

\---

It was a week into Christmas break that Lance got a letter from Keith. It was very simple.

_Lance,_

_I’m sorry. I don’t hate you. Why are you with Shiro so much? He won’t tell me._

He forgot to sign, but it was obvious that it was Keith. Even if Lance didn’t recognize the messy handwriting (not like he had much room to talk, Hunk was the only one with good handwriting in the group, but still), the content meant it could be only one person. He waited on it two whole days before he wrote back.

_Keith,_

_It’s okay. I know you didn’t mean it. Shiro’s just looking out for me._

_Lance._

_Lance,_

_Why you so much? Why nobody else? What’s going on?_

_Keith,_

_Why does it MATTER?_

_Lance._

_Lance,_

_He’s my guardian! I deserve to know!_

_Keith,_

_I’m not taking him away from you! I’ve just got some stuff going on and he’s looking out for me!_

_I thought friends didn’t keep secrets???_

_It’s personal! Keith, I don’t want to talk about it! Friends don’t keep secrets, but friends don’t share every single thing!!!! I don’t want to tell you!!_

_Fine._

Lance hadn’t replied back, and he hadn’t heard from Keith since. He still had a birthday present from him, a pair of quidditch gloves, but Lance wasn’t sure whether that meant Keith wasn’t upset and sent the present or whether Shiro had done it. It could go either way, really, so he still didn’t write him back.

It… hurt, a bit. He wrote Hunk. He wrote Pidge. But after that flurry of angry letters, giving Keith’s owl a workout, they didn’t write to each other at all.

Maybe it was for the best.

\---

When they came back to school, the two still didn’t talk. They didn’t… avoid each other, not quite. Sure, maybe Lance spent a little more time studying in the library, and maybe Keith spent a little more time tucked away in his room when he wasn’t playing quidditch, but they didn’t _avoid_ each other, not really.

They just… when they ended up in Shiro’s rooms at the same time (which happened quite a bit), working on their homework, they didn’t talk to each other. The tension was nigh-palpable. The amount of times that Lance had apologized to Hunk and Pidge was beyond extraordinary, but the Gryffindor could still see them weighed down by it.

Pidge forced more laughter. Hunk talked and talked and talked, like Lance normally would, filling in the space. Hunk touched him more, too, brushing up against his side and patting his arm or whatever he needed at that moment. Lance appreciated his best friend so much, but it didn’t help.

He didn’t want to talk to that jerkhole. He just… he just wanted to be.

So the next time Shiro said he was walking him back, Lance refused. “No. Just give me a pass, I’m fine.”

Shiro stared at him. Everyone stared at him, really. “Lance, are… are you sure?”

He nodded. “Positive. Can I have a pass?”

Soundlessly, the professor handed it over, and he left with Hunk and Pidge. Hunk was the first to speak as the door shut behind him. “You didn’t have to do that, you know.”

Lance shrugged. “I know. But… it’ll make Keith feel better, and I don’t need Shiro to keep checking in on me like that.”

Pidge looked between the two of them, and sighed. “You told Hunk about whatever this is. Fine,” he grumbled. “But you better tell me before Keith.”

The Gryffindor blinked at him, startled, before grinning softly. “Okay, I promise. I’ll tell you before Keith.”

“Good. I want to hold it over his greasy head.”

\---

The schoolwork started piling on, and tensions eased slightly. Shiro not walking Lance back anymore seemed to break a barrier down with Keith, and so he stopped hiding in his room. In turn, Lance stopped going to the library (well, except for when he, y’know, needed a book) and they started to talk. Just little things. “Pass that book,” and “Good game on Saturday,” but it was a start.

Honestly, Lance felt that if he sat down with Keith and explained everything, and Keith explained his side, they would be okay. But he… didn’t really want to do that.

He shouldn’t really have to do it, even if he understand (sorta?) why Keith was so upset. It was his own personal business.

So that awkward continued, until, well…

Professor Holt took over for a day.

Shiro was supposed to be watching them always when it passed curfew, but that was growing more and more lax recently as he shut himself up in his bedroom and worked on papers. Lance supposed it was considered alright because he was still in his rooms with them, so he was still technically watching over them. But not tonight.

“I have a giant pile of papers to grade,” he said, standing in the doorway next to Professor Holt. “But I need peace and quiet. Which I… don’t exactly get here. So, tonight, Ma- Professor Holt will be taking care of you. Okay? Gotta go.”

He pushed Professor Holt into the room, shut the door behind him, and bolted. The professor offered up an awkward smile. “Uh, hi. What do you normally-“

“Matt!” Pidge crowed, immediately latching onto his brother and pulling him towards his hidden lab in the closet. “You’ve GOT to see what I’ve been working on.”

“U-Um, Pidge, I thought you said that was dangerous…” Hunk trailed after them, concerned.

Before Lance could go in and join on the fun, however (maybe something would BLOW UP), there was a light touch on his arm. He turned, surprised to see the fourth member of their group staring down at the floor. “Hey, uh, Lance. I wanted to talk.” The Gryffindor stared at Keith, before glancing at the other three, who were gathered around Pidge’s cauldron and talking loudly.

No better time, he supposed. “Sure. About… what happened?” What else was there to talk about, at this point?

Keith nodded. “Look. I’m… sorry I said that. I didn’t mean it.” He frowned. “You don’t have to tell me what that was about. I just get, um…”

He couldn’t quite finish, and Lance was more than happy to fill in the blanks for him. “Jealous? Possessive? Worried?”

The Ravenclaw blushed. “Yeah. Sorry. I’ll try not to do that again.”

Lance shrugged. “It’s okay, Keith. I know you didn’t mean it, and I’m not trying to take Shiro away from you or anything. He’s just reallyyyy overprotective.”

Keith relaxed. “He is. …Friends?”

He grinned. “Only if you promise to make Ravenclaw win the Quidditch Cup.”

“Heh. Promise.”

Lance beamed, swinging an arm around him and steering him over to the rest of the group. “Great! Heeeeyyyy, Pidge, didn’t you say you were working on something explosive?”

The young Slytherin hadn’t, but his eyes lit up anyway. “I know just the thing!”

Professor Holt started to panic as his brother dug around in the closet, while Hunk did the intelligent thing and got the _heck out of dodge_. “Wait, Pidge, maybe we should-“

\---

...When Shiro got back a few hours later, Professor Holt was nearly in tears, shaking him the moment he stepped through the door. “They were hell, Shiro, hell!” he ranted, hands catching in the fabric of Shiro’s shirt.

The older professor looked around. Keith had fallen asleep on the floor, Pidge on top of him. Hunk and Lance were quietly sitting at the table while Hunk explained one of the Herbology rules to him. While Professor Holt’s clothes were singed, and he smelled faintly of smoke, there was no damage anywhere in the room. It was spotless.

Hesitantly, Shiro put a hand on his boyfriend’s back, rubbing gently as he turned to escort him to Shiro’s bedroom. “Ssh, Matt, it’ll be okay…”

“I can do Pidge. I can do my hellion of a sibling. But all four of them- All four…” Though the door shut behind him, Lance could hear his finishing statement. “How do you do it!?”

Hunk and Lance looked at each other, before quietly snickering. Yeah, that had been fun.

\---

Classes and life ebbed on. They struggled, they fought, and they (mostly?) triumphed over their homework. For the first time this school year, Lance was glad he wasn’t on the quidditch team. Keith was struggling more than the rest of them, trying desperately to balance schoolwork and playing.

When he wasn’t either out practicing or frantically trying to scribble out an essay, he was sprawled out on the couch, head in Hunk’s lap as his hair was pet, or vice versa. It was actually pretty cute when Keith pet Hunk’s hair, cause he always stole Hunk’s headband and wore it. Keith with a headband was cute. Hunk without a headband, hair flopping around his head, was also cute.

Pidge gagged whenever he saw them. “Honestly, can we stop with the PDA, some of us need to study…”

Lance snorted. “Not you.”

The Slytherin paused. “Okay, fair.”

Lance still visited Coran every other week for his potions, and there had been no changes at all. None. It was enough to make him sing and dance. Hopefully, they’d keep working and he wouldn’t have to worry about all the complicated surgery stuff that if you were a trans Muggle, you had to go through. (It was still weird to think of people as Muggles, though.) This summer, Coran was going to send it to him by owl, so he’d still get his regular dosages.

It was fantastic. He hadn’t told Pidge or Keith about it, and Lance was beginning to think that he wouldn’t, not unless he was bursting with so much happiness over the magic that made this possible that he **had** to share it with more than Hunk. Which hadn’t happened so far. Hunk was a really good listener and responder.

Pidge managed to blow up Shiro’s closet three weeks before the end of school, and then he was officially banned from making anything else. That left them with one very, veryyy antsy Pidge, and poor Shiro bore the brunt of it as he discovered something none of them (well, minus Keith) had realized before: one of his arms was prosthetic.

“Cooooool,” Pidge exclaimed, wide-eyed, and then immediately began examining it.

Lance shook his head. That Slytherin was such a nerd, honestly.

Bags were packed. Lance carefully wrapped up his little plants – still living! He wasn’t that bad! – born from the seeds Hunk had bought him last year and stowed them away. They exchanged promises to write over the summer, to see each other. Pidge offered up the idea of a sleepover, which the other three were definitely intrigued with.

Hugs were given. Tears were shed (just a little, via Hunk), and life moved on as the train departed.

\---

Ravenclaw won the Quidditch Cup.


End file.
